I Have Before Mentioned That The Men Are Domestic Tyrants,
Considering Them As Fathers, Brothers, Or Husbands; But There Is A
Kind Of Interregnum Between The Reign Of The Father And Husband
Which Is The Only Period Of Freedom And Pleasure That The Women
Enjoy.
Young people who are attached to each other, with the
consent of their friends, exchange rings, and are permitted to enjoy
a degree of liberty together which 1 have never noticed in any other
country.
The days of courtship are, therefore, prolonged till it be
perfectly convenient to marry: the intimacy often becomes very
tender; and if the lover obtain the privilege of a husband, it can
only be termed half by stealth, because the family is wilfully
blind. It happens very rarely that these honorary engagements are
dissolved or disregarded, a stigma being attached to a breach of
faith which is thought more disgraceful, if not so criminal, as the
violation of the marriage-vow.
Do not forget that, in my general observations, I do not pretend to
sketch a national character, but merely to note the present state of
morals and manners as I trace the progress of the world's
improvement. Because, during my residence in different countries,
my principal object has been to take such a dispassionate view of
men as will lead me to form a just idea of the nature of man. And,
to deal ingenuously with you, I believe I should have been less
severe in the remarks I have made on the vanity and depravity of the
French, had I travelled towards the north before I visited France.
The interesting picture frequently drawn of the virtues of a rising
people has, I fear, been fallacious, excepting the accounts of the
enthusiasm which various public struggles have produced. We talk of
the depravity of the French, and lay a stress on the old age of the
nation; yet where has more virtuous enthusiasm been displayed than
during the two last years by the common people of France, and in
their armies? I am obliged sometimes to recollect the numberless
instances which I have either witnessed, or heard well
authenticated, to balance the account of horrors, alas! but too
true. I am, therefore, inclined to believe that the gross vices
which I have always seem allied with simplicity of manners, are the
concomitants of ignorance.
What, for example, has piety, under the heathen or Christian system,
been, but a blind faith in things contrary to the principles of
reason? And could poor reason make considerable advances when it
was reckoned the highest degree of virtue to do violence to its
dictates? Lutherans, preaching reformation, have built a reputation
for sanctity on the same foundation as the Catholics; yet I do not
perceive that a regular attendance on public worship, and their
other observances, make them a whit more true in their affections,
or honest in their private transactions. It seems, indeed, quite as
easy to prevaricate with religious injunctions as human laws, when
the exercise of their reason does not lead people to acquire
principles for themselves to be the criterion of all those they
receive from others.
If travelling, as the completion of a liberal education, were to be
adopted on rational grounds, the northern states ought to be visited
before the more polished parts of Europe, to serve as the elements
even of the knowledge of manners, only to be acquired by tracing the
various shades in different countries. But, when visiting distant
climes, a momentary social sympathy should not be allowed to
influence the conclusions of the understanding, for hospitality too
frequently leads travellers, especially those who travel in search
of pleasure, to make a false estimate of the virtues of a nation,
which, I am now convinced, bear an exact proportion to their
scientific improvements.
Adieu.
LETTER XX.
I have formerly censured the French for their extreme attachment to
theatrical exhibitions, because I thought that they tended to render
them vain and unnatural characters; but I must acknowledge,
especially as women of the town never appear in the Parisian as at
our theatres, that the little saving of the week is more usefully
expended there every Sunday than in porter or brandy, to intoxicate
or stupify the mind. The common people of France have a great
superiority over that class in every other country on this very
score. It is merely the sobriety of the Parisians which renders
their fetes more interesting, their gaiety never becoming disgusting
or dangerous, as is always the case when liquor circulates.
Intoxication is the pleasure of savages, and of all those whose
employments rather exhaust their animal spirits than exercise their
faculties. Is not this, in fact, the vice, both in England and the
northern states of Europe, which appears to be the greatest
impediment to general improvement? Drinking is here the principal
relaxation of the men, including smoking, but the women are very
abstemious, though they have no public amusements as a substitute.
I ought to except one theatre, which appears more than is necessary;
for when I was there it was not half full, and neither the ladies
nor actresses displayed much fancy in their dress.
The play was founded on the story of the "Mock Doctor;" and, from
the gestures of the servants, who were the best actors, I should
imagine contained some humour. The farce, termed ballet, was a kind
of pantomime, the childish incidents of which were sufficient to
show the state of the dramatic art in Denmark, and the gross taste
of the audience. A magician, in the disguise of a tinker, enters a
cottage where the women are all busy ironing, and rubs a dirty
frying-pan against the linen. The women raise a hue-and-cry, and
dance after him, rousing their husbands, who join in the dance, but
get the start of them in the pursuit. The tinker, with the frying-
pan for a shield, renders them immovable, and blacks their cheeks.
Each laughs at the other, unconscious of his own appearance;
meanwhile the women enter to enjoy the sport, "the rare fun," with
other incidents of the same species.
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